System, method, and medium for generating a map of a geographic region based on client location data

ABSTRACT

Described herein are technologies pertaining to presenting a map to a user that comprises graphical icons that are representative of retail stores. The user has provided a shopping list, wherein the shopping list includes a plurality of products that are desirably purchased by the user. Inventories of retail stores in a geographic region of interest to the user are searched, and a map is generated that includes graphical icons representative of the retail stores, data that indicates that product(s) in the shopping list are available at the retail stores, and price data that indicates prices of product(s) in the shopping list at the respective retail stores.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/857,460, filed on Sep. 17, 2015, and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD, ANDMEDIUM FOR GENERATING A MAP OF A GEOGRAPHIC REGION BASED ON CLIENTLOCATION DATA”, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/945,910, filed on Nov. 15, 2010, and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD,AND MEDIUM FOR GENERATING A MAP OF A GEOGRAPHIC REGION BASED ON CLIENTLOCATION DATA.” The entireties of these applications are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Many retail stores have websites corresponding thereto such that anindividual wishing to shop at that retail store can direct an Internetbrowser toward the website of the retail store and search for productsthat the retail store sells online. For example, the individual mayenter a keyword or phrase into a text entry field and the website couldbe configured with search functionality that searches for a product orproducts corresponding to the keyword or phrase. Products locatedthrough use of the search can be displayed to the user such that theindividual can view pictures of the product at different angles and beprovided with a price for the product at the retail store. Theindividual may then choose to purchase the product online by providingthe website with account information (e.g., credit card or debit cardaccount information). The purchased product is subsequently shipped tothe individual such that the product arrives at a specified location afew days subsequent to the individual purchasing the product via thewebsite.

Alternatively, if the individual wishes to view the product and obtainthe product on the same day, the individual can travel to the retailstore to purchase the product. Oftentimes, however, it is difficult toascertain whether the product is in stock at the retail store. Thus, theindividual can take the time to drive to the retail store only to findthat the retail store does not have the product in stock or is priced ata price point that is above what the individual wishes to pay for theproduct.

SUMMARY

The following is a brief summary of subject matter that is described ingreater detail herein. This summary is not intended to be limiting as tothe scope of the claims.

Described herein are various technologies pertaining to recommendingproducts to a user. With more specificity, described herein are varioustechnologies pertaining to presenting recommended products to a user ona map such that the user can quickly ascertain which stores have arecommended product in stock and location of such stores. A graphicaluser interface can be provided that allows the user to identify aproduct or list of products that the user is interested in purchasing.This product or list of products can be generated in any suitablefashion including, but not limited to, the user providing text thatidentifies the product, the user selecting one or more hyperlinks toidentify the product, through a bar code scan, through an image captureof the product, etc.

Given the product or list of products, a search can be conducted overinventories of a plurality of stores in a geographic area of interest tothe user. The geographic area of interest to the user may be ageographic region that the user resides, a geographic region that isbased upon a current geographic region of the user, a geographic regionthat corresponds to a future geographic region of the user, etc. Thesearch for the product or list of products can be conducted overinventories of stores in the geographic region of interest. Theseinventories can be updated in real-time or near real time by the retailstores. For example, many retail stores currently tag products withradio frequency identifier (RFID) tags such that inventory of the storescan be updated almost immediately upon a product being purchased. Thisreal-time inventory can be made available by the retail stores or minedfrom a website such that inventories corresponding to multiple retailstores can be searched over concurrently.

Subsequent to the search for the list of products being performed, a mapcan be generated that displays to the user graphical icons that arerepresentative of different retail stores in a geographic area ofinterest to the user that have one or more of the products currently instock, as well as price data corresponding to the one or more productsin stock at the retail stores. Accordingly, by reviewing the map, theuser can quickly ascertain which stores have a product of interest instock, which stores are closest to the user and which stores have thecheapest prices for the products of interest. The map can includeadditional data that can aid the user in selecting products orperforming a shopping trip. For instance, each store can be representedby a graphical icon on the map and a selectable hyperlink can be shownin conjunction with each graphical icon. If the user selects thehyperlink corresponding to a particular retail store, driving directionsfrom a current location of the user to the retail store can be presentedto the user. Furthermore, selectable hyperlinks that, when selected,cause particular types of optimizations to be performed can be displayedto the user. For instance, selection of a particular hyperlink canprovide the user with a detailed shopping plan to obtain the product orlist of products at the cheapest possible price. Furthermore drivingdirections can be provided to allow the user to obtain the list ofproducts at the cheapest price in the shortest amount of time. Anotheroptimization may be completing a shopping list in a shortest amount oftime regardless of price. Other optimizations are also contemplated.

Additionally it is understood that each product has a plurality ofparameters associated therewith. Exemplary parameters corresponding to aproduct include price, brand, model number, features, etc. Theseparameters may have one or more constraints corresponding thereto, suchthat a search for a product is constrained to a particular brand, aparticular model number, a particular price, etc. When performing thesearch for products, one or more of these constraints can be relaxedsuch that the search can be expanded to locate similar/recommendedproducts. For example, products can be recommended based upon the usershopping profile, previous user purchase patterns, purchase patterns ofthe general population, user recommendations, etc. Inventories of theplurality of stores in a geographic area of interest to the user can besearched for recommended products and the map can be generated toillustrate to the user locations of stores that have these recommendedproducts and prices corresponding thereto. Therefore, the user canascertain from viewing the map that, for example, purchasing the producton the list would require paying additional money and traveling agreater distance when compared to purchasing a recommended product,which may be priced lower and available at a retail store that is closerto the current location of the user.

Other aspects will be appreciated upon reading and understanding theattached figures and description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary system thatfacilitates generating a map that illustrates locations of retail storesthat have one or more products of interest to the user in stock.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary map that can be generated through utilization ofthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary system thatfacilitates aggregating inventory data from multiple retail stores.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary system thatfacilitates visualizing products in one or more retail stores.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary methodology forgenerating a map that comprises representations of a store and a pricepertaining to a recommended product.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary methodology forgenerating a map that displays locations of retail stores and prices andproducts in a list of products provided by a user.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary methodology fordisplaying location and price of a substitute product on a map.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary methodology forcausing a product to be placed on hold at a retail establishment.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary computing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various technologies pertaining to purchasing one or more products willnow be described with reference to the drawings, where like referencenumerals represent like elements throughout. In addition, severalfunctional block diagrams of exemplary systems are illustrated anddescribed herein for purposes of explanation; however, it is to beunderstood that functionality that is described as being carried out bycertain system components may be performed by multiple components.Similarly, for instance, a component may be configured to performfunctionality that is described as being carried out by multiplecomponents. Additionally, as used herein, the term “exemplary” isintended to mean serving as an illustration or example of something, andis not intended to indicate a preference.

With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 100 that facilitatesproviding a user with a map that includes a representation of stores ina geographic area of interest and indications of certain products beingin stock at such stores is illustrated. The system 100 includes a datastore 102. For example, the data store 102 may be resident upon a serveror accessible to a server. The data store 102 may be managed by a retailstore or may comprise data that pertains to a retail store. The datastore 102 can include data 104, which comprises product identities,price information pertaining to the products, locations of retailstores, and inventory data of the retail stores (which may be updated inreal time or near real time). With more particularity, the data 104 caninclude inventory data with respect to one or more retail stores thatare at particular geographic locations. Additionally, the data 104 caninclude price information pertaining to products in the inventory of thestores. Thus, in summary, the data 104 can include inventory data andpricing data for a plurality of different retail stores located at aplurality of different locations.

The system 100 further comprises a search component 106 that isconfigured to access the data store 102 and search over the data 104responsive to receipt of an identification of a product or list ofproducts from a user. The user can provide the product or list ofproducts to the search component 106 in any suitable manner. In anexample, a graphical user interface can be provided to the user in anInternet browser when the user directs the browser to a particularwebsite, and wherein the graphical user interface includes a text entryfield. The user can enter text into the text entry field that identifiesor describes a particular product, and the search component 106 cansearch over the data 104 in the data store 102 based at least in partupon the textual description/identification. In another example, agraphical user interface can be provided to the user that facilitates aninteractive determination of a product or products of interest to theuser. For example, the user may indicate via the graphical userinterface that they are interested in a particular type of product(e.g., electronics). Thereafter, a plurality of different types ofelectronics can be presented to the user and the user can narrow thesearch for a particular product that is of interest to the user. Throughthis approach, the user can identify a product or series of productsthat are of interest to the user.

In still yet another example, the user may be utilizing a mobilecomputing device such as a mobile telephone and be shopping at aparticular retail store. The user may see a product that is of interestto the user and can capture an image of such product and transmit theimage to the search component 106 (e.g., by way of an applicationinstalled on the mobile computing device). The search component 106 maybe configured with image analysis functionality such that the product ortype of product can be identified by the search component 106.Thereafter, the search component 106 can perform a search over the data104 in the data store 102 based at least in part on this identificationof the product. In another example, the user may be at a retail storeand have access to a mobile computing device that is capable ofcapturing images of bar codes or performing scans of bar codes. The barcodes can identify certain products, and can be provided to the searchcomponent 106. In an exemplary embodiment, the bar codes can be analyzedby a software module that is configured to identify products based uponthe bar codes, and product identities can be provided to the searchcomponent 106. Subsequently the search component 106 can perform asearch over the data 104 in the data store 102 based upon the identitiesof the product(s) selected by the user.

In addition to receiving identity of a product or identities ofproducts, the search component 106 can receive an indication of ageographic location of interest to the user. The geographic location ofinterest can be inferred based upon a determined current location of theuser (e.g., through utilization of GPS, through analysis of an IPaddress, etc.) or based upon explicitly provided user preferences. Inanother example, the geographic area of interest to the user can beinferred based upon historical shopping patterns of the user.

Accordingly, the search component 106 can refine the search over thedata 104 such that the search is performed over retail stores that arein the geographic area of interest to the user. The output of the searchperformed by the search component 106 can include identities of retailstores that have one or more products in the list of products providedby the user in stock, wherein such retail stores are in the geographicarea of interest to the user. Furthermore, output of the search caninclude prices pertaining to the products at the retail stores that havethe products in stock.

The system 100 further comprises a map generator component 108 thatgenerates a map for display to a user on a display 110 of a computingdevice. The map generated by the map generator component 108 can includedetailed street level data pertaining to the geographic area of interestto the user as well as graphical icons that are representative of retailstores that have one or more products in the list of products currentlyin stock. Accordingly, when viewing the map, the user can quicklyascertain which retail stores have in stock products of interest to theuser and location of such retail stores with respect to the geographicarea of interest to the user. The map generated by the map generatorcomponent 108 can further include price information with respect toproducts that are in stock at the retail stores represented on the map,such that the user can ascertain which stores have which products instock and at what price(s). The map generator component 108 can furthercause additional information corresponding to the retail stores in thegeographic area of interest to be displayed on the map. This informationcan include information with respect to current sales at the retailstores, future sales that will occur at the retail stores, returnpolicies of the retail stores, etc., thereby allowing the user to makean educated decision as to where they would like to purchase product onthe shopping list and at what price.

Moreover, the map generator component 108 can provide selectablehyperlinks that correspond to the graphical icons that arerepresentative of the retail stores on the map. Selection of theselectable hyperlinks can cause the map generator component to outputdriving directions to a particular retail store from the currentlocation of the user or from a reference location provided by the user.Therefore, if the user determines that she wishes to travel to aparticular retail store that is represented on the map generated by themap generator component 108, the user can select a selectable linkcorresponding to the retail store on the map which then causes the mapgenerator component 108 to output driving directions to that retailstore to the user for display on the display 110.

Still further, the map generator component 108 may be configured tocause selectable hyperlinks to be displayed on the map that, uponselection thereof, cause one or more optimizations to be performed withrespect to a shopping trip of the user. For example, the user may wishto purchase each available item in the list of items provided to thesearch component 106 for a cheapest price. Obtaining each item at acheapest price may require that the user travel to different retailstores at different locations. Upon selecting the selectable hyperlink,an optimization can be performed by the map generator component 108 thatcauses a detailed shopping itinerary to be presented to the user on thedisplay 110, wherein the itinerary is expected to cause a user topurchase the products in the list of products received by the searchcomponent 106 at a cheapest price and in a least amount of time. Thisshopping itinerary may include directions such as “first travel to storeA to purchase items X and Y, then travel to store B to purchase items Zand Q and then travel to store C to purchase items W and P.”

Another exemplary optimization that can be performed is one that causesa user to purchase each item on the shopping list in a least amount oftime, regardless of price. For instance, products in a list of productsmay be spread across multiple retail stores, such that the user isunable to purchase all of the at a single retail store. In such a case,the optimization can provide the user with directions that will causethe user to complete their shopping list in the least amount of timepossible. In still yet another exemplary optimization, travel expensecan be taken into consideration when generating a shopping itinerary,wherein such expense can be based upon current gas prices in thegeographic area of interest to the user, cost of taxi fare in thegeographic area of interest to the user, cost of public transit in thegeographic area of interest to the user, etc. Furthermore, theoptimizations can be undertaken with respect to various modes oftransportation, including walking, biking, public transportation, typeof vehicle utilized by the user, etc.

The map generator component 108 can generate driving directions, forexample, based upon current or predicted traffic conditions along theroutes to be traveled by the user. For instance, one or more sensors maybe associated with vehicles traveling along roads near the retailstores. These can provide data that indicates the flow of traffic alongcertain roads and/or at particular intersections. In another example,historical traffic patterns can be utilized to predict trafficconditions when the user will be traveling to the retail stores depictedon the map generated by the map generator component 108. It is to beunderstood that any suitable mechanism for determining drivingdirections from the user to and between retail stores is contemplatedand intended to fall under the scope of the hereto appended claims.

It has been mentioned above that the user can interactively add productsto the list of products and the search component 106 can update thesearch based upon added products. An example of interactively addingproducts to the product list can include the map generator component 108generating a map that illustrates retail stores, products, and pricinginformation thereon. The user may select a graphical icon pertaining toone particular retail store, which can cause a plurality of similar orrecommended products to be presented to the user, wherein these similaror recommended products can be accessories, substitutes, etc. The usermay select one of these similar/recommended products, which can updatethe shopping list. The search component 106 may then perform the searchover the data 104 in the data store 102 to update locations and pricespertaining to all the products in the product list.

Furthermore, the map generator component 108 can be configured tocontemplate different parameters associated with the retail stores suchas certain discounts provided to users when they spend a particularamount of money, whether the user has a preferred shopping card with oneor more of the retail stores that allow the user to obtain bonuses ofsome sort, etc. The map generator component 108 can generate the mapsuch that the price information is indicative of the price without thesebonuses and prices that are inclusive of bonuses, sales, etc. Therefore,the map generated by the map generator component 108 can illustrate tothe user the total expected prices to be paid by the user for a productor list of products given the user's membership information, currentcoupons and discounts, etc.

In another exemplary embodiment, in many cases the user may not wish totravel to the stores and/or may wish to view prices for productsprovided by online retail stores. In addition to the data 104, the datastore 102 may also comprise price data and inventory data for productsthat are offered by one or more online retail stores. This pricinginformation can be displayed in side panel by the map generatorcomponent 108. Accordingly, when the user proffers products to thesearch component 106, the resulting map generated by the map generatorcomponent 108 can include graphical icons that are representative ofretail stores that have one or more of the products in inventory as wellas a side panel that illustrates online stores that have one or more ofthe products in inventory and prices corresponding thereto.Additionally, the side panels can include information such as returnpolicies of the online retail stores, shipping costs pertaining tocertain products, etc. such that the user can balance time, price andvalue/budget considerations when purchasing one or more products fromthe list of products.

The data store 102 may further comprise user preferences 112, whereinthese user preferences 112 can be inferred based upon historicalshopping patterns of the user or explicitly provided by the user such asfor instance, in the form of a profile. These user preferences 112 canindicate preferred brands of a user, whether the user is willing toconsider other products that are outside of the same price range asprovided products, amongst other preference data. The data store 102 canfurther comprise shopping history 114 of the user and/or other usersthat employ the system 100. The shopping history 114 can be mined todetermine which products users buy in conjunction, which products areshopped for by users in conjunction, etc.

The system 100 further comprises a recommender component 116 that is incommunication with the search component 106 and can output one or morerecommended products to the user based at least in part upon theproducts in the shopping list, the user preferences 112, and/or theshopping history 114. With more specificity, each product in the productlist may have at least one parameter corresponding thereto, wherein suchparameter may be, for instance, price, brand, model number, a certainfeature of the product, etc. At least one parameter of a product in theproduct list can have a constraint corresponding thereto. Continuingwith the above example, the constraints can be a constraint on a brandof product, a constraint on the model number of the product, aconstraint on price of the product, etc. The recommender component 116can receive the list of products and can relax at least one constraintcorresponding to at least one product. This constraint can be relaxedbased upon the user preferences 112 and/or the shopping history 114 inthe data store 102. For example, if the user has in the past beenwilling to consider a variety of different types of brands whenpurchasing electronics, then the recommender component 116 can relax aconstraint on the brand of an electronic in the product list. The searchcomponent 106 may then search over the data 104 in the data store 102 todetermine if any retail stores and/or online retailers have productscorresponding to the relaxed constraint. If one or more products arefound in the data 104 by the search component 106, the search component106 can inform the map generator component 108 of the recommendedproduct, one or more retail stores that have the recommended product instock, and price of the recommended product to be shown in the map.Additionally, data indicative of the fact that the retail store has arecommended product can be displayed on the map together with pricingdata corresponding to the product. Accordingly, when the user views themap on the display 110, the user can ascertain that a particular retailstore has a recommended/substitute product, and the user can choose tofurther review these recommended products, for instance, by selecting aselectable hyperlink corresponding to the retail store where suchrecommended product is in stock.

As indicated above, the user preferences 112 in the data store 102 canbe explicitly provided by the user in the form of a user shopping aprofile. For instance, upon initial utilization of the system 100, thesystem 100 can be configured to output a graphical user interface thatrequests certain types of shopping information from the user. Thisinformation can include, for instance, preferred items that are shoppedfor by the user, whether the user is willing to relax a constraintpertaining to brands, products, price, shopping habits of the user,favorite retail stores of the user, etc. The recommender component 116may then access this profile in connection with providing shoppingrecommendations to the user, and the map generator component 108 cangenerate the map such that information pertaining to recommendedproducts is displayed thereon.

Some exemplary utilizations of the system 100 will now be provided forpurposes of explanation. A user may be sitting at home and generating ashopping list on a personal computer. For example, the user may alreadyknow what it is that they wish to purchase and can provide text to atext entry field to indicate products that they would like to purchase.The search component 106 can receive these products and can locateretail stores in the geographical area of interest to the user that havesuch products in stock. The map generator component 108 can generate themap such that the retail stores are represented in the map by graphicalicons to show to the user which retails stores in the geographical areaof interest to the user have one or more products in the list ofproducts provided by the user. Furthermore, the map can include datathat indicates prices of the products at the retail stores. The user maythen select one or more selectable links corresponding to a retailstore, which can cause other products in stock at the retail store to bepresented to the user that are similar to a product in the list oraccessories to the products in the shopping list provided by the user.The user can select one of these recommended products, which can beadded to the shopping list originally entered by the user. The searchcomponent 106 can update the search and subsequently the map generatorcomponent 108 can update the map to indicate which stores have the newlyselected products. Once the user has completed their shopping list andwishes to purchase one or more of the products, the user can select oneor more of the retail stores on the map by selecting a selectable link,for instance, which can cause driving directions from the user's currentlocation to the selected retail store, to be presented to the user.

In another exemplary utilization of the system, the user may be on ashopping trip with their mobile phone and may be in a retail store wherethey view a product that is of interest to the user. The user canutilize the camera on the mobile phone to capture an image of the barcode, for instance. This image can be transmitted to the searchcomponent 106, which can have image recognition functionality thereon tolocate a product that corresponds to the captured bar code. Once theproduct has been located, the search component 106 can search the datastore 102 to determine if any other stores in the geographic area ofinterest to the user (close to the user's current location) have theselected product in stock. If the selected product is in stock, the mapgenerator component 108 can transmit a map to the mobile phone of theuser, wherein the map includes graphical icons representative of thestores that have such product in stock and prices corresponding to theproduct at the retail stores represented on the map. In this example,the user can quickly determine whether the user should purchase theproduct at the retail store where they are currently viewing theproduct, or travel to a different retail store to purchase the productat a better price or at a retail store with better return policies, etc.

The data 104 in the data store 102 has been described above aspertaining to brick and mortar retail stores and online retail stores.It is also contemplated that the data 104 can comprise data from usedsellers, auction sites, etc. For instance, the data 104 can comprisedata form an online classified system and the search component 106 canbe configured to search over data in the online classified system.Furthermore, the constraint of used, news, refurbished can be relaxed bythe recommender component 116 when providing recommended products to theuser. For example, a product included in a shopping list by the user maybe a particular model of electronic equipment, and the model number ofthe electronic equipment as well as the status of new/used can berelaxed by the recommender component 116. This can allow the recommendercomponent 116 to make a recommendation to the user of a used product forsale by way of an online classified system that is a previous model ofthe product selected by the user but at a much discounted price. Thisdata may be then shown on the map generated by the map generatorcomponent 108 or in a side panel on such map to the user such that theuser can quickly ascertain whether they would like to purchase the usedproduct at the discount price or the new product at a retail store thatis convenient to the user.

With reference now to FIG. 2, an exemplary map 200 that can be generatedby the map generator component 108 is illustrated. The map 200 comprisesa graphical icon 202 that is representative of a geographic referencepoint, which may be a current location of a user or a future location ofthe user. Thus, directions output by the map generator component 108 canoriginate from the location on the map 200 corresponding to thegraphical icon 202. The map 200 further comprises a plurality of othergraphical icons 204, 206 and 208, wherein each of the graphical icons isrepresentative of a retail store that is in the geographical area ofinterest to the user and has a product in stock that is included in ashopping list provided by the user and/or has a product in stock that isrecommended to the user. For instance, as described above, the user mayprovide a shopping list that comprises multiple products. The searchcomponent 106 can locate a plurality of retail stores that have one ormore of the products in stock in the geographical area of interest ofthe user. Furthermore, the recommender component 116 can relaxconstraints corresponding to one or more of the products in the shoppinglist and the search component 106 can search inventory of retail storesin the geographical area of the user based upon this relaxed constraint.

In the exemplary map shown in FIG. 2, the first graphical icon 204 has atext box 210 corresponding thereto that indicates that a particularretail store in the geographical area of interest of the user includesno items in the shopping list provided by the user. It is shown,however, that the retail store corresponding to the graphical icon 204comprises recommended products that are substitutes for one or moreproducts provided in the shopping list or accessories to one or moreproducts provided in the shopping list. A selectable icon can bepresented to the user such that upon selection of such icon, identitiesof the recommended products and/or prices pertaining thereto can beprovided to the user. This selectable hyperlink is shown in the textboxes being underlined text. The text box 210 can further comprise dataindicative of travel time from the current location of the user to theretail store represented by the graphical icon 204.

The graphical icon 206 can have a text box 212 corresponding theretothat indicates that at least one product in the shopping list providedby the user is in stock at the retail store represented by the graphicalicon 206. Furthermore, data in the text box 212 can indicate a price ofthe at least one product at the retail store and a travel time to theretail store from the current location of the user. While not shown, thetext boxes 210 and 212 can also include selectable hyperlinks that causedriving directions to be delivered to the user upon selection thereof.

The third graphical icon 208 is representative of a third retail storehas a third text box 214 associated therewith, wherein contents of thetext box 214 comprise data that indicates that the store represented bythe graphical icon 208 has two items from the shopping list in stock,prices corresponding to such items, and travel time to the retail storefrom the reference location. It is to be understood that the map 200 isexemplary in nature and can display additional data other than what hasbeen shown. Additional data can include data pertaining to onlineretailers, current or future sales that are to occur at the retailstores, whether the user has accounts at the retail stores, specialoffers provided at the retail stores, return policies of the retailstores, a side panel that includes data pertaining to products from anonline retailer, data pertaining to used products available by way of anauction site or online classified system, etc. Therefore, from viewingthe map 200 the user can make a time/price/value determination, whereintime corresponds to the amount of time required to purchase products inthe shopping list at the retail stores or online, price corresponds tothe price of the items across the retail stores or online retailers, andvalue corresponds to return policies and other data that is indicativeof the overall value of purchasing products at particular retail stores,online retailers or user refurbished items through other online sites.

Now referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary system 300 that facilitatesobtaining inventory data from a plurality of retail stores, onlineretailers, etc. is illustrated. The system 300 comprises an aggregatorcomponent 302 that is in communication with multiple data sources. Thesedata sources can include a first data source 304 pertaining to a firstretail store through an Nth data source 306 pertaining to an Nth retailstore, a data source 308 pertaining to a first online retail store, anda data source 310 pertaining to an Mth online retail store. The retailsstores corresponding to the data sources 304-306 can be brick and mortarstores, while the data sources pertaining to the online stores 308-310can pertain to online retail stores, online classified systems, etc.

The aggregator component 302 can receive inventory data, price data andproduct information from each of the data sources 304-310 in real timeor near real-time. In a first exemplary embodiment, the aggregatorcomponent 302 can be configured to ping the data sources 304-310periodically or from time to time to obtain inventory data with respectto each of the stores/online providers. In another example, the datasources 304-310 or one or more of such data sources 304 through 310 canbe configured to push inventory data from time to time to the aggregatorcomponent 302, which can then populate the data store 102 with the data104. Moreover, the aggregator component 302 can be configured to receiveshopping history data 114 from the data sources 304-310 such thatshopping patterns of shoppers at the stores/online retailers can beascertained when recommending products. In yet another exemplaryembodiment, rather than the system 300 comprising the aggregatorcomponent 302, the data sources 304-310 may be open such that for eachsearch generated by the user, the search component 106 can directlysearch the inventory of the retail stores without aggregating such dataat a central source. Other embodiments for aggregating inventory datafrom retail stores, online retailers, classified systems, etc. arecontemplated and are intended to fall under the scope of the heretoappended claims.

With reference now to FIG. 4, an exemplary system 400 that facilitatesvisualizing products at a retail store to a user is illustrated. Thesystem 400 comprises a data store 102 which retains the data 104, theuser preferences 112 and the shopping history 114, which have beendescribed above. In this exemplary system 400, the user has selected oneor more graphical icons representative of a particular retail store on amap generated by the map generator component 108. Selection of suchgraphical icon can cause the product that is available in the retailstore to be presented to the user in the form of an image, textualdescription, price information, etc. Based at least in part upon theproduct displayed to the user, the recommender component 116 can accessthe data store 102 to review user preferences 112, shopping history 114and the inventory data pertaining to the selected retail store torecommend a product that is an accessory to, or similar to, the productselected by the user through utilization of the map. This recommendedproduct is also in stock at such retail store.

A visualizer component 402 is in communication with the recommendercomponent 116 and can provide a visualization of the product andrecommended products for display on the display 110 to the user. Theprocess can be interactive such that when the user selects anotherproduct presented to the user by the visualizer component 402, suchproduct can be added to the shopping list. The recommender component 116can generate new recommendations for products that are at such storesand a visualization of products in the store can change. In a particularexample, the user may select a video game console at a retail store andthe recommender component 116 can access the inventory of the retailstore and recommend other products based upon the selection of the videogame console. These other products may include other types of video gameconsoles or video games, controllers, etc. that are accessories to theselected video game console. Accordingly, the visualizer component 402can generate a visualization that includes, for instance, at the centerof the visualization a depiction of the selected video game console andat the periphery of such video game console, other video game consolesand/or accessories pertaining to the video game console or the othervideo game consoles can be displayed.

Upon selection of one or more of the recommended products, thevisualizer component 402 can change the visualization such that theselected product is located at the center and other recommended productsare located at the periphery of a view generated by the visualizercomponent 402, wherein each of these accessories are in stock at theretail store that has been selected by the user. The user may thenselect one or more of these products, which are added to the shoppinglist, and the search component 106 can perform a search for products inthe updated shopping list (and recommended products). Additionally theuser can, through the visualizer component 402, place a product on holdfor a predetermined amount of time such that the user has the ability toplace the product on hold from home and then travel to the retail storeto pick up the selected product or products. Alternatively, once theuser has made selections at the retail store of recommended products,the user can back out of that view and provide the updated list to thesearch component 106, which can search the inventories of multipleretail stores in the data 104 and can output locations of the itemsacross multiple retail stores in the geographic area of interest to theuser.

With reference now to FIGS. 5-8, various exemplary methodologies areillustrated and described. While the methodologies are described asbeing a series of acts that are performed in a sequence, it is to beunderstood that the methodologies are not limited by the order of thesequence. For instance, some acts may occur in a different order thanwhat is described herein. In addition, an act may occur concurrentlywith another act. Furthermore, in some instances, not all acts may berequired to implement a methodology described herein.

Moreover, the acts described herein may be computer-executableinstructions that can be implemented by one or more processors and/orstored on a computer-readable medium or media. The computer-executableinstructions may include a routine, a sub-routine, programs, a thread ofexecution, and/or the like. Still further, results of acts of themethodologies may be stored in a computer-readable medium, displayed ona display device, and/or the like. The computer-readable medium may be anon-transitory medium, such as memory, hard drive, CD, DVD, flash drive,or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a methodology 500 that facilitates generating amap that comprises representations of retail stores in a geographicalarea of interest to a user that has one or more products of interest instock is illustrated. The methodology 500 begins at 502, and at 504 anidentity of at least one product that is of interest to the user isreceived. As described above, this identity of the product can bereceived explicitly in text from the user, may be received through theuser selecting a hyperlink, may be received through the user selecting aparticular parameter corresponding to the product (e.g., flat paneltelevisions with screen size 50″ or higher), etc.

At 506, data that indicates a geographic area of interest to the user isreceived. This data can be received from a GPS corresponding to a mobilecomputing device of the user, thereby indicating a current location ofthe user. In another example, the geographic area of interest to theuser can be ascertained based upon previous user shopping patterns.

At 508, inventory of retail stores in a geographic area of interest aresearched for the at least one product identified at 504. Furthermore,while not shown, a search can be undertaken over an inventory of onlinestores, over classified ads, over used resellers, etc.

At 510, one or more constraints corresponding to the parameters of theat least one product is relaxed. For instance, the user may haveselected a particular brand of product. This brand can be relaxed toinclude other brands. In another example, if the user selected aparticular price for a product, the price constraint can be somewhatrelaxed to include products in other price ranges.

At 512, a recommended product is determined based at least in part uponthe relaxing of the constraints undertaken at 510. This recommendedproduct can be an accessory to the identified product or a substitute tothe identified product.

At 514, a map is generated that comprises a graphical icon that isrepresentative of a retail store that has the identified product orrecommended product in stock and a price pertaining to the identifiedproduct or recommended product. Therefore, the user can be visuallyprovided with data that indicates an amount of time it will take theuser to travel to the retail store where the recommended product is instock, and a price corresponding to the recommended item at the retailstore. The methodology 500 completes at 516.

Now turning to FIG. 6, an exemplary methodology 600 that facilitatesgenerating a map that displays locations of retail stores with prices ofproducts in a user-generated shopping list of products is illustrated.The methodology 600 starts at 602, and at 604 a shopping list ofproducts is received from the user. This list of products can bereceived by the user selecting several hyperlinks corresponding toproducts, from receiving a text shopping list from a user, etc.

At 606, a geographical area of interest to the user is received, and at608 inventories of a plurality of retail stores in a geographical areaof interest to the user are searched for products in the shopping listof products received at 604. At 610, a map is generated at displayedlocations of retail stores and prices of products in a list of productsto the user, and the methodology completes at 612.

Now referring to FIG. 7, an exemplary methodology 700 that facilitatesselection and display of a substitute item to a user is illustrated. Themethodology 700 starts at 702, and at 704 an identity of a product isreceived from a user. At 706, inventories of retail stores in ageographic area of interest to the user are searched over for theproduct. At 708, a determination is made regarding whether the productis in inventory at one or more of the retail stores in the geographicarea of interest to the user. If the product is in stock at the one ormore retail stores, then at 710 the product location and price isdisplayed on a map. That is, a geographic icon representative of theretail store that has the product in stock is shown on the map togetherwith a price of the product at such retail store.

If at 708 it is determined that the product is not in stock at the oneor more retail stores in the geographic area of interest to the user,then at 712 a substitute product is located in the inventory of the oneor more retail stores in the geographic area of interest to the user.The substitute product can be selected based upon one or more factors,including similarity to the identified product, price of the identifiedproduct, etc. Specifically, a “best guess” can be taken as to whichproduct is closest to the product identified by the user in terms ofprice, quality, etc. For instance, the substitute product can beselected based upon price, location of the retail store that has thesubstitute product in stock, and/or user reviews. Furthermore,explicitly provided or inferred preferences of the user can be takeninto consideration when selecting a substitute product. At 714, locationand price of the substitute product is displayed on the map, and themethodology 700 completes at 716.

With reference now to FIG. 8, an exemplary methodology 800 thatfacilitates allowing a customer to place a particular product on hold ata retail store is illustrated. The methodology 800 starts at 802, and at804 an identity of a product is received from a user. At 806, ageographical area of interest to the user is received, and at 808 aproduct in inventory of the retail store in the geographic area ofinterest to the user is located. At 810, a map that displays thelocation of the retail store and the price of the product at the retailstore is generated.

At 812, a selection of the retail store on the map is received from theuser. For instance, the user can place a mouse pointer over an iconrepresentative of the retail store and select the retail store, whichcan cause a graphical icon pertaining to the product to be displayed.

At 814, an indication is received from the user that the user wishes toplace the product on hold at the retail store. For instance, a button ina graphical user interface can be provided that indicates to the userthat the user can place the product on hold, and the user can depresssuch button. At 816, responsive to receipt of the indication, data istransmitted to the retail store that requests that the product be placedon hold for a threshold amount of time. The retail store can place theproduct on hold such that another individual does not come into theretail store and purchase the product. The methodology 800 completes at818.

Now referring to FIG. 9, a high-level illustration of an exemplarycomputing device 900 that can be used in accordance with the systems andmethodologies disclosed herein is illustrated. For instance, thecomputing device 900 may be used in a system that supports recommendingproducts. In another example, at least a portion of the computing device900 may be used in a system that supports searching inventories ofretail stores in a particular geographic region and generating a map ofsuch retail stores in the particular region. The computing device 900includes at least one processor 902 that executes instructions that arestored in a memory 904. The memory 904 may be or include RAM, ROM,EEPROM, Flash memory, or other suitable memory. The instructions may be,for instance, instructions for implementing functionality described asbeing carried out by one or more components discussed above orinstructions for implementing one or more of the methods describedabove. The processor 902 may access the memory 904 by way of a systembus 906. In addition to storing executable instructions, the memory 904may also store product inventory, user shopping preferences, historicalshopping patterns, etc.

The computing device 900 additionally includes a data store 908 that isaccessible by the processor 902 by way of the system bus 906. The datastore 908 may be or include any suitable computer-readable storage,including a hard disk, memory, etc. The data store 908 may includeexecutable instructions, inventory of retail stores, user shoppingpreferences, etc. The computing device 900 also includes an inputinterface 910 that allows external devices to communicate with thecomputing device 900. For instance, the input interface 910 may be usedto receive instructions from an external computer device, from a user,etc. The computing device 900 also includes an output interface 912 thatinterfaces the computing device 900 with one or more external devices.For example, the computing device 900 may display text, images, etc. byway of the output interface 912.

Additionally, while illustrated as a single system, it is to beunderstood that the computing device 900 may be a distributed system.Thus, for instance, several devices may be in communication by way of anetwork connection and may collectively perform tasks described as beingperformed by the computing device 900.

As used herein, the terms “component” and “system” are intended toencompass hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.Thus, for example, a system or component may be a process, a processexecuting on a processor, or a processor. Additionally, a component orsystem may be localized on a single device or distributed across severaldevices. Furthermore, a component or system may refer to a portion ofmemory and/or a series of transistors.

It is noted that several examples have been provided for purposes ofexplanation. These examples are not to be construed as limiting thehereto-appended claims. Additionally, it may be recognized that theexamples provided herein may be permutated while still falling under thescope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method executed by at least one processor of atleast one server computing device, the method comprising: generating acomputer-implemented map of a geographic area, the map generatedresponsive to receiving, from a client computing device and over anetwork connection, an identity of a product, the product has aparameter corresponding thereto, and the parameter has a constraintcorresponding thereto, wherein generating the computer-implemented mapcomprises: receiving, from the client computing device and over thenetwork connection, data that is indicative of the geographic area;relaxing the constraint corresponding to the parameter of the product;in response to receipt of the location data that is indicative of thegeographic area and further responsive to relaxing the constraint,executing a search over data in a data repository based upon thegeographic area and the relaxed constraint, wherein executing the searchcomprises: locating a seller in the geographic area; searching aninventory of the seller to locate a recommended product, wherein thesearching of the inventory is based upon the relaxed constraint; anddetermining a price of the recommended product as identified by theseller, wherein the computer-implemented map of the geographic area,when generated, comprises data that identifies a location of the seller,data indicative of an identity of the seller, and the price of therecommended product; and transmitting, to the client computing deviceand over the network connection, the computer-implemented map forpresentment on a display of the client computing device.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein generating the computer-implemented map furthercomprises: receiving an indication that the user has selected agraphical icon on the map that is representative of the seller; andresponsive to receiving the indication, transmitting graphical datacorresponding to a second product that is in stock at the location ofthe seller that is related to the product, wherein thecomputer-implemented map is updated to include the graphical data. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein generating the computer-implemented mapfurther comprises: responsive to receiving the indication, transmittingsecond graphical data that indicates that the user is able to place theproduct on hold at the seller, wherein the computer-implemented map isupdated to include the second graphical data, the method furthercomprising: receiving an indication that the user wishes to place theproduct on hold at the seller; and transmitting a message to a computingdevice of the seller that instructs the seller to place the product onhold for a predefined amount of time responsive to receiving theindication that the user wishes to place the product on hold at theseller.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating thecomputer-implemented map further comprises: transmitting graphical datacorresponding to a second product that is related to the product to theclient computing device, wherein the second product is in stock at asecond seller, wherein the computer-implemented map comprises agraphical icon that is representative of the second product whendisplayed on the display of the client computing device; receiving anindication that the user has selected the graphical icon on thecomputer-implemented map; and responsive to receiving the indication,causing the computer-implemented map, when displayed on the display ofthe client computing device, to include graphical data that identifies alocation of the second seller in the geographic area.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the recommended product is located in the inventorybased upon purchase patterns of the user.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the recommended product is located in the inventory based uponpurchase patterns of other users.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein therecommended product is located in the inventory based upon products instock at the location of the seller that have been labeled as beingsimilar to the product.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data thatis indicative of the identity of the seller is a graphical icon that isrepresentative of the seller, the graphical icon positioned on the mapto identify the location of the seller in the geographic area, whereingenerating the map further comprises providing a selectable link inrelation to the graphical icon, the method further comprisingtransmitting navigation directions to the client computing device forpresentment on the display thereof, the navigation directions being tothe location of the seller in the geographic area.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein executing the search comprises: locating a plurality ofsellers in the geographic area based upon a shopping list of productsthat are of interest to the user, wherein the shopping list comprises aplurality of products; and searching inventories of the plurality ofsellers to identify which of the plurality of sellers has at least oneproduct in the plurality of products in inventory and to furtheridentify prices of the plurality of products at the plurality ofsellers, wherein the map, when generated, comprises graphical icons thatare respectively representative of the plurality of sellers, wherein atleast one of the following are displayed in association with thegraphical icons: prices pertaining to the products at the plurality ofsellers; or prices pertaining to recommended products at the pluralityof sellers.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating thecomputer-implemented map further comprises causing a selectable link tobe displayed, wherein selection of the selectable link causes a route tobe output that directs the user to a subset of the plurality of sellersto purchase the plurality of products at a collectively lowest price.11. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the computer-implementedmap further comprises causing a selectable link to be displayed, whereinselection of the second selectable link causes a route to be output thatdirects the user to a subset of the plurality of sellers to purchase theplurality of products in a least amount of travelling time.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein executing the search over the data in thedata repository further comprises: searching an inventory of an onlineseller to locate the product and price of the product of the onlineseller, the method further comprising causing the price of the productof the online seller to be displayed in a side panel adjacent to thecomputer-implemented map.
 13. A system comprising: a processor; andmemory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, causethe processor to perform acts comprising: executing a search over datain a data repository based upon an identity of a product set forth in aquery transmitted to the system over a network connection between aclient computing device and the system, wherein the product has aparameter associated therewith, the data in the data repositorycomprises inventories of a plurality of sellers in a geographic area,wherein a constraint pertaining to the parameter of the product isrelaxed when executing the search to locate a recommended product that aseller from amongst the plurality of sellers has in stock; generating amap of the geographic area of interest for display on a display of theclient computing device in response to receipt of the query, the mapcomprises a graphical icon that is representative of the seller that hasthe recommended product in stock and price data corresponding to therecommended product of the seller; transmitting the map of thegeographic area to the client computing device over the networkconnection; subsequent to transmitting the map of the geographic area tothe client computing device, receiving an indication that the user hasselected the graphical icon on the map of the geographic area;responsive to receiving the indication, updating the map of thegeographic area to include graphical data when the map of the geographicarea is displayed at the client computing device, the graphical dataindicates that the user is able to place the recommended product on holdat the seller; receiving an indication that the user wishes to place therecommended product on hold; and transmitting a message to a computingdevice of the seller that instructs the seller to place the recommendedproduct on hold for a predefined amount of time responsive to receivingthe indication that the user wishes to place the recommended product onhold.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein executing the search comprisesdetermining the recommended product based upon the relaxed constraint.15. The system of claim 14, wherein the recommended product isdetermined based upon historical shopping data of the user.
 16. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the recommended product is determined basedupon historical shopping patterns of other users.
 17. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the data in the data repository comprises inventoriesof the plurality of sellers, wherein the search is executed over thedata in the data repository for a plurality of products included in thequery, and further wherein the map is generated such that the mapcomprises graphical icons representative of multiple sellers in thegeographic area that have at least one of the products in stock, andwherein the map further comprises data that is indicative of prices ofthe products at the multiple sellers.
 18. The system of claim 13,wherein the map further comprises a selectable link that is displayed inassociation with the graphical icon, the acts further comprisingoutputting navigation directions to the seller to the client computingdevice responsive to receipt of an indication that the user has selectedthe selectable link at the client computing device.
 19. Acomputer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:generating a computer-implemented map of a geographic area, the mapgenerated responsive to receiving, from a client computing device andover a network connection, an identity of a product, the product has aparameter corresponding thereto, and the parameter has a constraintcorresponding thereto, wherein generating the computer-implemented mapcomprises: receiving, from the client computing device and over thenetwork connection, data that is indicative of the geographic area;relaxing the constraint corresponding to the parameter of the product;in response to receipt of the location data that is indicative of thegeographic area and further responsive to relaxing the constraint,executing a search over data in a data repository based upon thegeographic area and the relaxed constraint, wherein executing the searchcomprises: locating a seller in the geographic area; searching aninventory of the seller to locate a recommended product, wherein thesearching of the inventory is based upon the relaxed constraint; anddetermining a price of the recommended product as identified by theseller, wherein the computer-implemented map of the geographic area,when generated, comprises data that identifies a location of the seller,data indicative of an identity of the seller, and the price of therecommended product; and transmitting, to the client computing deviceand over the network connection, the computer-implemented map forpresentment on a display of the client computing device.
 20. Thecomputer-readable storage device of claim 19, wherein thecomputer-implemented map further comprises: an icon that isrepresentative of the seller; and a selectable link that is displayed inassociation with the icon, wherein the acts further comprise: outputtingnavigation directions to the seller to the client computing deviceresponsive to receipt of an indication that the user has selected theselectable link at the client computing device.